Vert et Blanc

Coming up with a new and fresh blog every week is hard. It's certainly complicates things when your team is struggling or are win-less in the Riders case. I've maintained the theory that I'm not about stats because you can get that information from anywhere and everywhere else. I promise you that I will always have a unique view and often the female fan view of the game of football and this Saskatchewan Roughrider community owned team that I love and support with all my heart.

The only thing fans and media seem to be discussing is the Randy Richards hit on the Stampeders Tim Brown. I was holding down seat 8 in section 14 at that football game. What a unfortunate chain of events. However, from my seat and vantage point not only did I not know what had transpired but no one around me did either. We cheered as soon as we saw the stop. We had no idea who the player was. All we saw was Brown laying on the field. There was no replay shown on the Sasktel Maxtron. Then the refs announced the penalty and ejection and the wrong player number. THE FANS HAD NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED. When Randy Richards was escorted from the bench I stood and cheered again. I don't feel bad and I don't care what others think of me. Know this - I would never cheer if I knew someone was injured.  We knew at that point Tim Brown was not injured despite his dramatics on the field. I felt what happened in front of my eyes did not deserve anyone to be booted from the game. Richards was asked to do a job and he did it.

I know, what if that hit had been on a Rider player like Dressler? First, because I've seen too many missed calls on Roughrider players, I highly doubt there would have been a penalty resulting in an ejection. Secondly, Dressler would never have layed splayed out on the ground milking it for all its worth. No, he would have sprung up right away because that is the beast of a player that he is.

Then we find out Richards was fined the maximum penalty in a CFL hearing! The maximum penalty being half a game cheque?  

OH COME ON!

Shockingly, I agree with Arash Madani on Thursday's Sportscage. There is no consistency in the officiating in the CFL. I feel like CFL football fans have been shouting this from the rooftops forever. When will they listen to us?

Shrugs.

All we wanted was a pure definition of pass interference. The CFL's answer was to give us reviewable calls in 2014 while in 2015 they come up with a new contact rule. Did it make the referee’s any better? No. It gave them a way out instead because now they can just throw a flag without even really knowing if an offence was made. Sure teams have adjusted but it hasn't made the officials any more accountable. How ridiculous is it that every time you see a big play you have to look around to see if flags were thrown? It doesn't make CFL games a good product and it surely doesn't make it marketable in the US.

Have you seen the new goal posts in the NFL, by the way? Some of our kickers would never stand a chance making it through those narrow uprights. Yikes.

I'm not much of an NFL watcher at all. Collage football hasn't started yet. I tend to follow the Oregon Ducks and Boise State because I have family who live there. So...with this lull in activity...I started watching Friday Night Lights. I never watched it on TV, mostly because of my teaching lifestyle.....I miss a lot because of it. Here's what I have to say – I'm addicted and by the end of episode one I was in tears. If you watched it years ago, I'd urge you to go back and watch it again. Matt Saracen sure reminds me of Drew Willy, there is no debating Smash Williams is Kory Sheets and Buddy Garrity could sum up all of Ridernation's media sources in a car salesman nutshell.

So the Green Whites play the RedBlacks on Sunday in Ottawa. A couple weeks back Rnation was all in a tizzy over a billboard that was put up by the Roughriders organization. These billboards aren't anything new as the Riders have been putting them up in CFL cities for years but those in the Rouge Noir were sure offended. Meh. These days people are offended by pretty much anything and everything if you try hard enough to be. What I'm counting on in Sunday's match up is a good penalty free stupid mistake free Rider team and Bad Hank showing up.

HEEEEEEENNNNRRRYYYYYYYYYY.

It never gets old.

I never count this team out unlike some members of the media. It may seem I have a hate on for some of them but I really don't. I just want them to be better. Instead of using their voice, talent & position to condemn a team, why not use them to boost morale?! The season is not over. It won't be until the final whistle sounds on November 8^th. There's a lot of games to be played and this is the CFL where nothing is for sure and no lead is safe.

The most dangerous team is the one who has lost everything, has nothing left to risk and has the most to gain.

Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can't lose.

Legends & Lore (aka The Hall of Fame Game)

Ages ago, months really, in the off season I had a discussion with my Rider Soul Sister (same team, different parents) about choosing which games we could go to, to increase our chances of meeting up this year. At that point in time, it must have been March when the Roughrider flex packs went on sale, RSS said “you want to go to the August 22^nd game for sure because it's the Hall of Fame Game.” And thus, I added that date to my flex pack shopping list.

I don't know how RSS knew this tidbit of important information but she did and I am glad. She is out of the Rider loop, as it were, because she lives amidst the Evil Empire but bleeds pure Rider Pride. Because RSS knew, I knew, and I waited patiently for the hype.

* Pin drops *

I saw a tweet mentioning tickets for the CFHOF gala dinner at the start of the CFL season. I looked into it but yikes, at $230 a pop, that's a lot of beans for Hubby to count at work to earn the moola for an evening out. I really wanted to go. I really did. To think of brushing elbows with some of the CFL's greatest of all time.....wow, just wow.

Time was passing. Still no one was talking about it. The second week of August I tweeted Rod Pederson, the Voice of the Riders, to ask if he was taking his show The Sportscage to Saskatoon to cover the HOF gala.

“Nope”.

FINALLY, the day of the Hall of Fame gala I started to hear rustlings of stories on CKOM and on CBC TV. Why wasn't this event talked about more? Why didn't anyone seem to care? And why wasn't anyone calling the August 22^nd Rider game against the Calgary Stampeders The Hall of Fame Game?

Shrugs.

Saskatchewan media – you failed. You failed fans. You failed the fine men who were inducted.

Who were these phenomenal people who now wear Hall of Fame jackets and have their faces cast for us to admire always? Leroy Blugh, Eddie Davis, Dave Dickenson, Gene Makowsky, Bob O'Billovich, Larry Reda, and Bob Wetenhall. You can read all about their careers on the CFHOF web page:  Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Living vicariously through Cody Whiteman.

Two of our very own Saskatchewan Roughriders were inducted into the Hall. Friday aka Game Day Eve there was an autograph signing at the Rider Store at Lawson Heights Mall. It was a no brainer that I'd spend a day of my summer vacation at the Rider Store. I secretly hoped Geroy Simon would happen to be there but alas, he was not. I had a near meeting with the GOAT in 2013 but I digress.....

I arrived and stood in line for a few minutes but the line was relatively short so I ventured into the Rider Store. There were some very nice Hall of Fame tee shirts so I purchased a couple to have signed. When I returned to the line there was only one lady waiting. She asked me a couple questions about who the other men were besides the Riders and I admittedly/shamefully did not know which of the other men they were.

Then it was my turn. I shook both their hands and smiled and as nervous as I was and always am when I've met players, I actually didn't spout nonsense this time. I told Gene how Hubby's cousin played football with him at the U of S and what Cousin Mark is doing now. I asked Eddie where he lives now and he was eager to tell me that he lives in Calgary and even when he played for the Riders travelled back and forth. Heck, they have those “Chinooks” there.....I'd even take winter there. Maybe. I ended my conversation with asking if they both would be at the football game Saturday and they said yes and that they hoped it went well.

* Fingers crossed *

The Roughriders sold out Mosaic Stadium for the tilt against the Calgary Stampeders. The weather was not going to be optimal. It was going to be chilly and there was a great possibility of rain. I wore three layers of clothing for the first time since February.

“When Riders make a comeback, what a story that will be.” John Chick

Well that story isn't being written just yet. I wanted it to be written. I wanted it to be legendary and rate right up there with the Black Out Game or the Labour Day Classic of 2007. It wasn't meant to be. Yet.

0 - 8

I saw an injury decimated passionate Roughrider team take on the defending Grey Cup champions and come within 3 points of winning. I saw a 3^rd string young rookie quarterback take a beating and get back up every time and keep pace with a Grey Cup champ and starting quarterback. I saw a first year punter attempt a 64 yard field goal when the opposing vet (*) never had to take a risk at all.

I'm not going to talk about moral victories, accepting mediocrity or coaching changes because I don't believe in any of that stuff. For those who rant about those things – it's exhausting – find a new crusade.

I will tell you that this Rider team has progressed greatly since week one. It just might not be the progression you expected or wanted to see. Didn't Coach Chamblin tell us at the end of the 2014 season that we would see a very different team in 2015? What I will say to you is that fans, and that's me included, need to change our perspective.....we need to have different expectations of this team. An attitude adjustment.

This is not the 2013 Riders. This is not even the 2014 Riders. And they are a far cry from the 1979 Riders. There are too many odds stacked against us and in spite of it all this team is competitive. No one is blowing this squad out. That's why today I have sore arms from clapping and a hoarse voice from yelling. That's why in two weeks at the Labour Day Classic I intend on doing it all again.

The men honoured at half time can attest to the down times in Rider Nation. Gene Makowsky, who had his entire 17 year career in Saskatchewan can tell you he never even considered he'd ever be a Hall of Famer. Imagine, these players today who are criticized.....they are the Hall of Famers of tomorrow.

The 2015 football season is an experience and not a destination.

Wouldn't it be a shame if you missed the journey because you couldn't deal with a little adversity?

The choice is yours.....do you want to be the fan riding on the bandwagon or the one running to catch the tail gate?

I am here. I am seat belted in. I believe. And I can't wait for the story to be written.

Little 'stitious

I've always said I'm just a little stitious not SUPERstitious. I have to admit that as much as I'd like to say it - it doesn't matter what shirt or hat or shoes I wear - it has no bearing on if the Riders win or lose. I'm throwing a flag on myself.  Calling an audible. It totally matters to me in 2015. At oh-and-7 it has to be something I'm doing wrong, right?

Knock knock

Who's there?

Owen.....Owen Seven

* eyeroll *

I think every sports fan is a little superstitious. Some people say it’s a ritual. A procedure of doing the same things to bring about similar results as before. I watched an episode of the McCarthy's (check it out – John Ritter's son is on it) where the whole family had to wear certain things, sit in particular places & do actions just because their team won once when that happened and they HAD to reenact it every time. Guess what? Their team kept winning as long as they did it.

Didn't that just prove the theory?!

The first time I ever remember feeling this way was back in elementary school. I played clarinet in the school band and insisted upon wearing my blue and yellow striped sports socks. Yeah, I know, Bomber colours! They were great socks. At least, I thought they were. I thought they did something for me because I wore them for every performance that band gave in my grade 7 year.

I had a lucky yellow rabbits foot as well, but it was hardly lucky for the rabbit.

Fast forward to 2007 when everything changed for Rider fans. There was a surge in everything green and the CFL marketing guru's licked their lips. Any kind of Roughrider garb that you could dream up in your wildest of imaginations was stamped with the //=S=// logo and sold. Everything except make up for us girls. I bought a little compact of Maybelline eye shadow called Emerald Isle. It went with my green shirt which at that point was not an official Roughrider shirt but just the Walmart $5 variety. Gradually, I came to believe that this green eye shadow somehow held the secret to the team winning.

In subsequent years I've tried different combinations of make up and jewellery and Rider shirts and jerseys. I ditched the Emerald Isle eye shadow for a glittery brownish green shadow in 2009/10. That didn't work out so well for me. I've tried eye liners, eye shadows and outfits galore. White shirts, green shirts, beads, head bands, hair clips, and Hubby will never forget the crazy green glue on eyelashes for the year the Riders played the Lions on Halloween. Even the trick or treaters at the door wondered why I had green spiders on my face. One kid even asked if they were real!

I can’t exactly define the moment when I thought, “I know, I’ll do watermelon make up this season!” It could have had something to do with a pre-season game occurring during my work week and I needed something not so crazy. * SHRUGS * But I pulled out my Annabelle “Pinked” eye shadow and combined it with the tried and true Maybelline “Emerald Isle” …..

.....drew on black eyeliner and brushed on some black mascara and…..

That was the 2013 season.

In spring 2014, and having been to New York twice at that point, I found an eyeshadow compact by New York Color which consists of a pale green, dark green and purple. #789 West Vintage. Dressler and Getzlaf OR Dressler, Bagg and Demski. Which ever way you want to look at it. I've chosen to look at it as a sign. It seemed to do the trick since the Riders were pretty good out of the gate and right up until our starting quarterback Darian Durant was injured in that “non play” against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers I hadn't lost belief that it wasn't working.

Sigh.

Over the off season, as many people do, I cleaned out my closet and make up stash. I threw out the original Maybelline Emerald Isle eyeshadow. I just tossed it in the waste basket. Didn't even think about it.

Ugh.

I feel like I may as well admit that I in fact was the 13^th man.....woman.

It's my fault. Not Darian's. Fire me. Not Chamblin. Throw the flag. Toss me out of the game.

My name is Owen.

Maybe, just maybe the make up doesn't have anything to do with both our starting quarterbacks being injured this season. The Emerald Isle doesn't have anything to do with missed tackles or low sack numbers. #789 West Vintage isn't responsible for enormous amounts of penalties.

It just is.....what it is.

That's an eye opener, isn't it?

But hold on! Keep that flag in your pocket, Proulx. I've just realized I have failed to wear my jersey even once this season!

So, if I wear my jersey to the game on the 22^nd, The Hall of Fame game, the game against the Calgary Stampeders, MAYBE, my beloved Roughriders will manage to squeak out a win.

* fingers crossed *

 

Nope. This rabbit.....er, rabid fan is not superstitious at all. * wink *

Stay the Course

How many of you were around in 1979? I was. I was seven. At age seven I don't even recall the word Roughrider muttered in our household. No one ever mentioned them until I was what I refer to as “stupid teenager” in 1989 when my Dad professed that 'the Riders are good this year'.

That's a small snapshot of what life was like when the Riders sucked.

Pierre Trudeau was Prime Minister. People played Atari. We listened to music on a Sony Walkman if you were lucky enough to have $200. We watched M*A*S*H* and wondered who shot J.R.

Social media was chatting with the cashier at the grocery store.

2 – 14

That was the how the season went and that's why no one talked about them.

There were only four recognizable names on the 1979 team roster. Ron Lancaster had forfeited his role as quarterback and became the coach. Tom Clements was the quarterback and he had huge shoes to fill on a team that had to find a new identity. It was doomed from the start.

We live in a different world now. Rider fans came out of the woodwork during the 2007 season. Something magical happened and we had to put lifters on the bandwagon to support the additional weight. Now we wear our Rider green every single day and we aren't ashamed. We put it on our cars and houses and tattoo it on bodies. It's Rider Pride and it's been easy to back our team through recent winning times.

Roughrider fans are now are young and impatient. They weren't here in 1979.....weren't even a sparkle in someone's eyes..... and don't care to learn about the past. They point fingers, ridicule and want people to lose their jobs. The worst part is they are the loudest voice on social media. Instead, of doing their homework they follow the ill words of others like sheep.

Let's face it.....weeks before Gary Lawless wrote his article talking about Coach Chamblin being fired it was being discussed everywhere. All the radio programs were talking about how changes needed to be made and even though they weren't calling for heads to roll it doesn't take much to plant that seed of doubt in a smart phone obsessed mind. Who was Lawless's source? Heck, it could have been all of Rider Nation.

I for one have greatly adjusted my attitude. So what? We (the team) may not have glorious wins this year. Every game will be a struggle that will make you want to rip of your jersey and throw items at the TV. That's okay. That's passion. That proves you care. But when it comes down to it.....isn't it wonderful that we have this team in our province, which helps define our province and community? Isn't it great that we can come together to cheer for these guys who have left family and loved ones and come from across the United States and Canada to become the 2015 Roughriders!

We are so blessed.

The 13th Man.  Other CFL teams WISH they had a fan base like ours.

So I dare you – this week, week seven, look for the good things. Look for small improvements. Look for someone doing their job well. Look for better instead of the best. Trust me, we will all be happier and more content for it. This team has faced a HUGE amount of adversity this year that not many other CFL teams could easily recover from and now is the time to stick with this Roughrider team. The payoff will be down the road but I know in my greenest of hearts it will be sweeter than you could ever imagine.

And if not, well, I'm sorry you feel that way. Just know that one bad decision could turn the time back to 1979 and as much as I enjoyed Atari, I love the 2015 version of the Roughriders far more.

Stay the course. Persevere. And Always Bleed Green.